Machine foe folding curtains



(No Model.) v 3 Sliets-$heet 2.

HESBLWOOD.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING CURTAINS.

No. 606,341. Patented June 28,1898,

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J, HESELWOOD. MACHINE FOR FOLDING GURTAIN'B.

N0. 606,341. Patented June 28,1898.

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JAMES nEsn-Lwoon, or LEEDS, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR FOIIDING CURTAINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,341, dated June 28, 1898.

Application filed August 26,1897. Serial No, 649,582. (No model.)

To all whom itanay concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES HESELWOOD, a Subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Leeds, in the county of York, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Folding Curtains, of which the following is a specification,

The object of this invention is to construct machinery whereby curtains may be straightened out and folded after washing while in a damp condition, and the said curtains maybe thus dried without danger of tearing or crinkling the fabric.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to describe same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters and numerals refer to like parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is an end view of same. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are diagram views illustrating the working of the machine.

According to my invention I provide a table A, which is of suflicient length to carrya curtain stretched longitudinally on same, and at the ends of the table Atwo uprights B and G are provided, being carried on the frameD of the machine.

E is a shaft carrying two pulleys F and G, over which chains H pass for the support of two carriers J J, which are connected together by a carrier-rod K, having pins K on its under side.

L L are counterbalance-weights which are attached to the opposite ends of the chains H, and M is a rod which is carried on hooks N N, attached to the carriers J J. On the framework D at each end of the machine two, shafts P P are mounted, the shaft P being P P and on slides W" W, fixed to the endframes of the machine, in such a manner that l the rotation of the shafts P P causes the narrow tables U and V to slide on the rods W NV and to move toward or away from the cen ter of the table A, according to the direction of rotation of the shafts P P.

Z is a belt-fork which is carried on a slid ing rod 2, and adjustable tappets 3 are provided on the said rod for the purpose of engaging with the narrow tables U and V as they come to the limit of the movement re quired, thus causing the sliding rod 2 to be moved and the machine to be reversed or thrown out of gear.

4 is a pulley which is attached to the shaft E, and 5 is a chain which enables the said shaft E to be rotated by hand and thus to raise or lower the carriers J J at will.

6 is an open frame, on which the curtain is folded by the machine for drying purposes.

The curtain is folded down the center on a suitable table provided for the purpose, and the loose rod M is insertedin the fold, so as to divide the curtain equally on both sides. The rod M is then lifted up and placed in the hooks N on the carrier K, and the sides-0f the curtain are drawn over the narrow tables U and V, as shown in the diagram at Fig. On the narrow tables U and V being moved apart through the medium of thescrew-shafts P P the carrier K, with its rod M, is lowered, the pins P keeping the curtain central as the tables separate until the narrow tables U and V reach the limit of their action, as seen at Fig. 4. The rod M is then withdrawn from the carrier and the latter is run up out of the way, leaving the curtain stretched freely between the tables U and V. The frame 6 is then placed on the curtain, as seen at Fig. 5, thus holding the curtain in contact with the surface of the main table A, and the belts having changed from the right to the left pulleys through the action of the tappets the screwshafts P and P are reversed, thus causing the narrow tables U and V to movetoward each other and pass over the main table A, thereby drawing the sides of the curtain over the surfaces of the narrow tables U and V onto the open frame G, as seen at Fig, 0. The curtain is thus entirely laid 011 the frame 6, and the latter can then be removed and the curtain be allowed to dry in the folded position.

Having now described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination in a machine for folding curtains, of a balanced carrier having pins on its under side to engage the curtain at its center, a rod adjacent to the carrier for supporting the curtain at about its center, two narrow tables below and lengthwise at each side of the rod, a fixed main table and means for moving the narrow tables toward and from each other above the fixed main table, substantially as set forth.

2. The-combination in a machine for folding curtains vith a fixed table, of two narrow tables above the fixed table, screw-shafts operatively connected to said narrow tables for moving the same toward and away from each other and above the fixed table, belts and driving-pulleys, abelt-shifter and tappets engaged by the narrow moving tables for operating the belts and reversing the mechanism, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination in a machine for folding curtains, with a fixed table and two narrow tables above the fixed table and means for moving the narrow tables toward and from each other, of a carrier and pins on its under side, hooks at its ends and a rod carried by said hooks for supporting the curtain, and

'.weights for balancing the carrier, substantially as set forth.

JAMES HESELWVOOD.

\Vitnesses:

GRIFFITH BREWER, JOHN J oWETT. 

